marktwothousand

thanks for all this. I thought platinum had a special waiting area but I wasn’t aware their boarding time didn’t count! Unfortunately it was a last minute booking and I’m way within 125 days. I will need to book my Dining on board. My TA doesn’t participate in the e-upgrade program unfortunately. i know onboard upgrades are rare these days but anyone know the going rate? I seem to recall it’s usually around $500 when I did it before

I have never been overly eager to be first on the ship but I want to try to, for my prima April cruise from Miami bc I am now platinum and want to get things booked and have a more relaxed day. 1) what time does online check in open on day 21 prior? 2) what is usually the first boarding hour offered? 3) as I am newly platinum, what are the things I should book at latitudes? Behind the scenes, wines around the world, cocktail party, platinum pin. Anything I am missing? 4) any dining and show availability that opens up on boarding. Where should I go for that? It’s usually teppanyaki or the MDR on other ships I do not care for the vibe so I’m good on that. I also want to register my name at customer service for any last minute balcony no-show upgrades. (Not likely these days I know and I’m keeping an eye on the cruise as we get closer to do a straight upgrade) anything else I’m missing? Sorry, I know it’s annoying to be one of the organized, eager ones, but I know you’ll all understand lol! I think this is something I’ll probably just try once, as I don’t typically like to rush to the port

And BTW the cruise is in 3 weeks so there is no downpayment, it was full payment only, so this is a kind of…a BS from NCL… due to some administration error which isn’t really my fault

I didn’t ask why it wasn’t $346 as I thought that was just what it would end up being with the exchange rates because everything was pretty messed up during COVID. I just accepted I lost money on the exchange. I guess I could go back and ask for it to be corrected to $346, I have an email cruise next dept. saying that the transfer was successful and valid until 2026, so at least I have documentation. I don’t think it’s really customer fault for not asking why it was not $346, from my memory, the CNs have always varied in Canadian pricing depending when you bought it, so they’re essentially stiffing me out of a CN. I am willing to use the $300 but if they want to top me up to $346 I won’t complain

At some point during COVID refund, or thru a transfer with family, one of my cruise next’s became $300.00 Canadian when it was credited into to my account. The regular amount for Canadian dollar cruise nexts is $346. i made a booking today and was told that because it was not the full CN amount of $346 CDN (approx $250 US) has anyone else had this happen? I had to pay the reservation at full cost and apply thru my agent, who is going to a supervisor at NCL to review whether they will allow it to be applied and give me a rebate. otherwise I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do, this is a legitimately-purchased CN certificate, and they’re not letting me use it. Essentially garbage. Has anyone else had this happen and how did you resolve?

thanks everyone for your commentary. It’s good to know this has been an issue for some in the past, at least that nails it for me, in that now I know taking that cruise is unlikely to work out for me. I’d like to book an inside but I need two rooms, and they’re all at 200% pricing, so it would mean an additional $2000 between the two of us, which is unfortunately significantly more and likely out of our reach. 😞

Really frustrated here. Trying to book a cruise for April, been trying for over a week now. Site says Studio GTY available, but when NCL or my agent tried to book it, it gives them an error. “Room must be assigned to category” or something like that. wondering if anyone has ever successfully booked a solo GTY or if this is just an error that no one cares or knows how to fix. I am ready to book and pay, but can’t do it. It is pretty angering to see NCL have these listed as availabilities, only to turn down payment at the final stage. I get if it’s full…my loss for not acting sooner…but NCL shouldn’t say “available” if its not actually available. I really don’t mind getting whatever inside guarantee they end up giving me if anyone has ever found a way around this issue please drop me a line 😞 i hope it is not just a bait and switch to get solos to pay 200% for insides

Hail to the N O!

What sailing is that, the Galveston one?

That is what I am hoping. Is there any truth that “mass upgrades happen at or around the 30 day mark”? If so, I am hopeful. Right now, almost all non-studios are almost 200% for solos. I don’t mind paying a studio price and getting a guarantee, but I need to be able to book two cabins simultaneously, and both my agent and NCL get errors when they try to do this. 😞 Prima: Miami to NYC April 16. do you know a site where I can see inventory? Let me know what you think, if you have any further insights.

Has anyone watched a cruise 30 days prior and tried to determine when is the best to book? I am looking at a cruise that’s currently 33 days out, prices are already pretty high and I can’t seem to book an affordable cabin. There are guarantee studios, but I need two studios. At this point should I just wait until day 29 to see if anything I can afford opens up (ie studios)? Or is there not really a recognizable difference when booking within the 30 day period? thanks

Well, I won’t make it my PRIME reason… just my “PRIMA” reason. K, I’ll see myself out now 👋

Any updates on this anyone?

Yes but is it just back the booking system or is it actually running on board this week. Can anyone on board please confirm? one if the main reasons I would be booking would be the Donna summers show & disco night…

Some were booted off at San Juan I believe but the guy in the light blue Oakley tshirt stayed on board.

@alexirina did you hear “deep in the heart of Texas” played at any of the ship‘s events and did you happen to notice if there was more line dancing on this cruise than there normally is, compared to a cruise leaving from one of the more traditional ports? (I.e. Miami) overall, how would you describe the crowd…? Younger, older? Party crowd or laid back? Thinking of this same cruise but it’s sold out mostly till February. Trying to get a feel for what it’s like sailing out of Galveston.

My cruise wasn’t the one that got cut short for COVID— it was the one after mine, so I think yours was two before the COVID cruise.

OMG I was on the same cruise. The one with the big fight. Enjoy your return big guy!

The newer RCCL ships just blow everything else out of the water in terms of things to do and entertainment. NCL’s best ships barely graze what RCCL offers on its best ships. For kids, these new RCCL ships would be amazing. They might not even get off the boat. For food, alcohol and partying, NCL is much better in my opinion. Part of the problem on the new RCCL ships is that there are SO many venues that no “one” place or party brings everyone together in the same space. The size of the Royal ships and events create the effect that things feel quite “dead” pretty early on in the night compared to NCL. i would definitely do a Royal ship again, but yes they are expensive with the alcohol packages…

I have found that for those who have the NCL $9.95 messaging package, you can’t count on messages showing up on the other person’s phone unless they manually check the NCL app…however! If you use the messaging app’s phone feature to reach them, the call usually punches through and alerts them immediately. So if you need to get someone’s attention right away, phoning through the app is usually the most reliable way. and as others have said, you get a special phone number in the app, which you can phone from anyone else in the app, or from room-to-app, or even phone ship’s services from the app.

Su su suddio

Ya I guess this is the thing, they may start charging 100% occupancy for single travellers in balconies now

Is the purpose of the new studio balcony cabins mainly to get single cruisers to buy a balcony cabin outright instead of getting a true studio and then just rebooking to a balcony at the last minute? for most of the cruises where I booked a studio, I just ended up checking the NCL site for better balcony rates up until the day of cruise, and then just paid the difference in cost for the balcony. In most cases it wasn’t much.. $500 Canadian max. Sometimes just a couple hundred, and in one instance, it was like a $20 difference I feel like single cruisers who want balconies might still get a better rate by booking a studio and then paying the cost difference for a balcony at the last minute. Obviously regular-fared balconies for single cruisers don’t get the studio lounge but I don’t think anyone really cares about that… I’m sure NCL Has run the numbers and discovered they will make more money by getting single cruisers to pay for a balcony upfront…companies obviously never do anything like this unless they’re trying to make more money off it

Does anyone know if it works on the Joy recently without a package?

I have been on both. Honestly, for fun activities like slides and rock climbing and things, I would choose symphony hands down every day of the week and twice on Sunday. The entertainment just kills NCL too. Between the skating drone shows, diving shows, hairspray, flight, you will never want to go to NCL again… the basketball court on symphony is excellent. I can’t remember if joy has one. joy is a fine ship, but I wouldn’t say there’s a whole lot of excitement and activities, and the VR gaming pavilion was rather a let down. I did Joy for a Panama Canal and it was perfect for that because of the OBS lounge and general plentiful outdoor spaces. that being said, if your kids want to just go wild, get trashed, party all night and hang out with folks, NCL is probably the better choice because of the drinks pack and theme parties. The symphony did not really have a late night party scene and the nightclub was disappointing.